25th July 2017 Newsletter 12 Volume 40

From The Principal

It is certainly wonderful to see our student body so committed to supporting others through their passion and commitment to the open mic night planned for Friday night.

We know that a focus on the community and helping others is

a strong resilience booster for all. I am proud of our students

who are actively raising funds and awareness of the ABC’s

and Rice school in Cambodia.

Students have organised Art for sale on the night and there

will also be refreshments available to buy. Please come along

and support this event.

Hilary HILARY BLAND, PRINCIPAL

(Right, Left and Above) Year 10 Economics class sausage sizzle

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ALL STUDENTS

You are invited to the VCASS Open Mic Night this Fri-day 11th August at 6pm in the Studio Theatre. It's going to be a great night bringing together students from dif-ferent year levels and specialty areas for a wonderful cause - to raise money for the ABCs and Rice School in Cambodia which looks after impoverished children. Just by attending, you will provide funds to feed a student for two weeks! In addition, we are planning a Silent Auc-tion, Cake and Tea/Coffee stall which will start before the event and run during the interval. Tickets are $10. To secure your ticket, go to https://www.trybooking.com/304101. There will also be some door sales on the night. Some more information on how the money raised may be used: $10 - feeds a child for two weeks $20 - buys 50kg of rice $25 - buys 40 student workbooks $60 - buys school uniforms for 2 students $120 - makes one classroom wheelchair accessible $300 - covers a semester of university for one ABCs and Rice graduate $1000 - pays for 6000 hot and nutritious meals ELIZABETH TOWNSHEND

STUDENT LEADERSHIP COORDINATOR

IMPORTANT DATES

16th August Pupil Free Afternoon

16 & 17th August Year 11 Music Solos

18th August Pupil Free Day (Dancers

train in afternoon)

24th August Music Lunchtime Concert

31st August Parent Teacher Interviews

11-7:30

7th

- 9th September Malthouse Season

15th September MRC Music Performance

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ALL STUDENTS Presentation of our School Over the course of this year I have noticed a decline in the standards of how our school is looking. General mess around corridors, as well as on the tops of locker areas is contributing to this significantly. I think we can do better. I have, with assistance of Daniel Holden and Zac Koukoravas have been going through the school clearing the mess off the tops of lockers. We threw food scraps, rubbish and loose leaf photocopied material in the bin. We put jackets, umbrellas and other items of clothing in the lost property bin under the back stairs opposite the physio room. We put original music scores, text books, art folios, exercise books, computers and iPads in storage. Students have been noticing that they are missing these items and have been seeing me to reclaim their personal items. Pleasingly, I have noticed a big improvement in the tidiness of student areas. I am expecting students to continue to keep locker areas and

corridors clean and tidy. Also, to pick up after themselves and

take joint responsibility in maintaining a tidy school.

MICHAEL SARGEANT

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

FRENCH NEWS Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette Poetry Competition During Term 2 groups of VCASS students from years 9 and 10 made their way down to the home of the Alliance Française de Melbourne for the annual Berthe Mouchette Poetry Competition. We are delighted at the success of our students, virtually all of whom scored at least a “Très bien” Special congratulations go to year 9 students Oliver Evans, Sidra Nissan and Tom Umseher for achieving an “Excellent” (19 - 19.5) and to Jean Leibel and Isabel Johnson-Darby who scored the full 20 marks and achieved a “Brillant” and a place in the finals on Sunday August 20. Sidra’s achievement is particularly notable since she only started French this year and has already learned some French songs as part of her music studies.

Some of our year 9 contestants: Jean Leibel, Oliver Evans, Isabel Johnson-Darby, Sidra Nissan and Tia McAllen HEATHER LEVISTON

TEACHER

FILM FESTIVAL SUCCESS Congratulations to Jackson Hurwood who recently re-ceived a first place in the Newport Youth Film Festival. The judges commended Jackson on the freshness and technique displayed in his short film, The Dancing Corpse. They were so impressed with Jackson’s work that they enter it in both the junior category, which he won, and the under 25s category, in which Jackson finished third. Jackson’s film is a musical romance about a young scientist who turns his mother into a zombie. It was produced last year for Unit 4 Media and can be viewed on YouTube here – https://youtu.be/bsXFwOmHNGo

OLIVER WIGG

YEAR 9 CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

MUSIC Congratulations to the following Music Students:

Ally Cho of Year 12, Teacher Elizabeth Sellars and

JI Woo Yoon of Year 9, Teacher Josephine Vains who

are finalists in the Hepzibah Menuhin Award.

Alexander Owens of Year 12, teacher Tim Reynolds

received 1st place, and Rachel Weerasiri of Year 12,

Teacher Danielle Calder received 3rd

place, for the

Ron McNicol Award

Special award to Joshua Vass, Teacher Tim Reynolds.

These awards are sponsored by the Musical Society of

Victoria.

ANNE LEWITZKA

MUSIC TEACHER

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LORD SOMERS CAMP AND POWER HOUSE (JANUARY 2018) Lord Somers Camp and Power House is a small organisation with a big vision – to create a stronger, more inclusive society through service to others. They also achieve significant social impact, leadership capabilities, empowerment, engagement, well-being and personal and community development. Please read the following information regarding the camp, and, if any student is interested I encourage you to apply! The 2018 Lord and Lady Somers Camp Lord Somers Camp and power House (LSC&PH) runs two camps at Somers each year in January for 200 carefully selected participants, Lord Somers Camp for boys and Lady Somers Camp for girls. The camps are premier programs of LSC&PH. The week long programs provide a mosaic of experiences that are exciting, full on and non-stop. Who is it for? The camps are for participants who are currently in year 11 equivalent and between 16.5 and 18 years of age as of January 2018. A key objective of the camps is to bring together participants from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We are looking for people that will gain something out of the program. They don’t necessarily need to be your school leaders (but of course they can be!) but perhaps someone you see that has leadership potential that hasn’t yet been fully realised. We want young people who are willing to accept the challenge to be One in One hundred and participate in the camp like no other. How to apply: The onus is on the young person to apply themselves via our website www.lscph.org.au The application form also asks for information which will allow us to select a mix of participants which meets our diversity objectives for the camp. Two camps run: 6

th-13

th January 2018 / 14

th -20

th January

2018 How you can support the application process: The form asks the young person to nominate a referee, someone that can vouch for them and provide us with a little more information about them. Students can nominate a VCASS teacher as their referee in their application. Nominated referees will be contacted by LSC&PH via email and asked to complete a short online survey as to why the applicant should attend. If more follow up information is needed, the organisation will contact the referee via phone to ask any further questions. Parents/Guardians will also be contacted separately for additional information to support their application such as medical details via CareMonkey. Tips for selecting participants: In 2017, LSC&PH received an overwhelming amount of applications for the spaces available. As it is so competitive, young people who apply should be really motivated to attend as places are limited and highly sought after.

Students should also look to their nominated teachers for assistance with the may require completion of the online application process. Incomplete details may prevent the application from proceeding to the next stage of the selection process. Further information: Applications for the Big Camp 2018 are now open and will close at the end of Term 3 on Friday 22

nd Septem-

ber. Due to the high volume of applications LSC&PH en-courage students to get their application forms in as early as possible. Once you have completed applica-tion (application, reference and CareMonkey medical

profile) it will be viewed by the Camp Executive Team. ROSINA GANNON HEAD OF STUDENT SERVICES VCASS THURSDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERT SERIES The VCASS Thursday Lunchtime Concert series is proving to be increasingly popular with parents, visitors, staff and students. These free monthly concerts include a range of performances by smalls groups from the junior ensembles program. In addition, enthusiastic students also elect to form small chamber groups on top of their normal curriculum and enjoy preparing rep-ertoire to perform for family and friends. The next concert on Thursday 24 August will include a variety of brass, woodwind, harp and vocal ensembles. Then on Thursday 21 September the concert will fea-ture a performance of the Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals complete with orchestra, two pianos and nar-ration. Visitors are welcome to use the school cafeteria for coffee or lunch before or after the concerts. Students are permitted to take their lunch in to the recital room, as long as they eat quietly and don’t make a mess. Concerts begin at 11:50am and generally conclude by 12:25pm. If you haven’t been before, do come along; the students would love to see you there. DR JULIE HASKELL

MUSIC TEACHER

(Below) VCASS Lunchtime Concert

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MUSIC REPORT 8ST

AUGUST Senior Music Tour to Shepparton and Mooroopna Term 2 concluded with the senior music students touring to Shepparton and Mooroopna on the 27

th and 28

th June. The

tour included collaborations with Mooroopna Secondary and Primary Schools and Shepparton and Wanganui Secondary Schools. 65 VCASS students participated. This was a highly successful tour which culminated in nine workshops and four performances. We thank Michael Sargeant, Ian Whitehurst, Dermot Tutty, Dr Julie Haskell and Gabriella Ibbott for their work leading workshops and looking after our students. The students really enjoyed working with students from other high schools. VCASS violin teacher, Michael Loftus-Hills, also attended for one day to run a string workshop with the schools. The performances were:Mooroopna Secondary and Primary School and VCASS performed at the Westside Performing Arts Centre. This concert included combined Big Band and Concert Bands and the VCASS Senior Choir, Senior Strings and VCE ensembles.The VCASS African Drumming Ensemble performed at Save the Children Child Care at St Paul’s African House coinciding with the end of ‘Eid celebrations. The tour also included an internal combined concert with Shepparton and Wanganui Secondary Schools and an early evening Jazz gig at the Aussie Hotel, Shepparton, provided a showcase for our senior jazz groups

(Left) String Workshop at Shepparton High School

(Right) VCASS African Drum Ensemble at St Paul’s African House (Below) Jazz gig at the Aussie Hotel Shepparton

VCE Top Acts The VCE Piano Trio, Trio di Picardie, and our VCE Brass Quartet were selected to perform at VCE Top Acts in the Music Performance – Group section on 12

th

May. This concert highlights the most outstanding mu-sic, dance and drama VCE Performances of 2016. We congratulate the students of these chamber en-sembles for their exceptional work throughout last year in preparing for their practical VCE Music Performance exam Piano Trio – Sammi Wu, Nathania Camargo and Clare JuanBrass Quartet – Jessica Gilham, Rosemarry Yang, James Earl and Josh de Koster. Due to the clash with the final rehearsal of our Monash Academy Orchestra project only the piano trio were able to perform.

(Above) A photo of the piano trio performing at Top Acts left to right - Nathania Camargo, Sammi Wu and Clare Juan

Trio de Picardie received the Chamber Ensemble Com-petition Award 2016 and performed as guests at the end of our Chamber Finals Competition last Thursday evening. VCASS performs at the Salon – Melbourne Recital Centre Last Tuesday, 1st August the Chamber Choir under the direction of Marshal Maguire performed selections of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the MRC Salon with the Lu-dovico Band to a sold-out audience. The choir and their associate artists: Sinead Malone, Rosie Yang, Hugo Kanda-Franklin, Miro Lauritz and Jessica Gilham were prepared by VCASS Choral Director Dermot Tutty. Vo-cal soloists were: Alex Owens, Eliza O’Connor, Rachel Weerasiri, Nish Hewett, Anita Karabajakian, Dayna Fraser, Zac Mistri, Benji Wald, Jem Herbert and Miro Lauritz

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Significant external successes of our music student during Term 2

SEAF – South Eastern Arts Festival MSV – Musical Society of Victoria MRC – Melbourne Recital Centre

Ji Woo Yoon Yr. 9

MSV 15 y&u string

award 1st prize

Henry Say Yr. 9

MSV 15 y&u string

award 3rd prize

Michael Nguyen Yr. 9

MSV 15 y&u piano

award 3rd prize

William Peng Yr. 9

SEAF 15&U con-

certo section 2nd place

Rachel Shindang Yr. 9

SEAF 15&U con-

certo 1st place

Michael Nguyen Yr. 9 SEAF 15y&U recital 1st place

Alice Hurwood Yr. 9 AMEB grade 7 A+

Jae Young Kim Yr. 10

Australian flute fes-

tival competition (Brisbane) finalist

Lachlan McKie Yr. 9

Boroondara Ei-

steddfod, Senior Chamber Ensemble Section First place

Lachlan McKie Yr. 9

AMEB Grade 8 Vio-

lin Exam A+

Lachlan McKie Yr. 9 State Music Camp 2017

Concert Mas-

ter of Bishop Orchestra

Tutti Four (Alex Owens, Anita Karabajakian, Dayna Teeuw-Fraser, Zac Mistri with Aidan McGartland – Yr. 11/12

MSV chamber mu-sic competition

Equal Second place

Michael Nguyen Yr. 9

MRC Bach Compe-

tition finalist

Henry Say Yr. 9

MRC Bach Compe-

tition

honourable

mention

Ally Cho Yr. 12

MRC Bach Compe-

tition finalist

Ji Woo Yoon Yr. 9

MRC Bach Compe-

tition finalist

Henry Say Yr. 9

8th grade cello ex-

am A+

Clare Juan Yr. 12

Boroondara Ei-

steddfod, Open Pi-ano Section 3rd prize

Ji Woo Yoon Yr. 9 Boroondara Arts

Winner of the

Orchestral Instrumental Award

And Term 3: Joshua Vass Year 8 was placed in the MSV 18 and under singing competition and will be singing at the winners’ concert. Chamber Ensemble Finals Last Thursday we were treated to an outstanding con-cert. All seven ensembles who made it through to the finals performed at an extraordinarily high standard and they should all be very proud of their achievements. The finalists were: Spunky Plebs (Jazz Ensemble # 3), Vocal Trio, String Quartet #1, Quintet Ventus (Woodwind Quintet), Tutti Quartet (Vocal Quartet), Fainne Solais (String Quartet #2), Children of Ian (Jazz Ensemble #4). Results adjudicated by Andrea Keller and Zoe Knighton were as follows: Honourable Mention: Tutti Quartet 3

rd Place: Quintet Ventus

2nd

Place: Children of Ian 1

st Place: Fainne Solais

We wish to thank all the tutors of our finalist ensembles for their hard work in developing these young musi-cians: James Sherlock, Carrie Barr, Rachel Atkinson, Michael Sargeant, Dermot Tutty, Rosie Hunt, Ian Whitehurst A snapshot of some of our Term 3 music activities: Senior Chamber Choir singers with 7 brass and string students performing selections from L’Orfeo with Ludivoco’s Band at the MRC Salon Tuesday 1

st Au-

gust. Austral Salon Chamber Finals Thursday 3

rd August

Austral Salon Outstanding Soloist Finals Thursday 10

th August

Year 11 Solo Concerts 16th and 17

th August

Music Auditions Week 5 and 6 MRC weekend rehearsals Saturday 2

nd September and

Sunday 10th September.

MRC Outreach concert at Hampton Park 6th September

MRC Closed Dress Rehearsal 13th September

MRC Gala Concert 15th September

MARY JO KELLY

ACTING HEAD OF MUSIC

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Frances Quinn Arts Encouragement Award The late Frances Quinn was a very popular member of the former Zonta Club of Melbourne Yarra and a great lover of music and the performing arts. The Frances Quinn Arts Encouragement Award was established in her honour and encourages young women to follow a career path that complements their musical talents, in a way that Fran would greet with much delight.

Zonta is an international organization engaged in the service of advocacy for women. Now known as the Zonta Club of Melbourne on Yarra this award was previously offered to an outstanding, talented 1st year music student at the Victorian College of the Arts, School of Music. In 2017 the Zonta Club decided to offer this award to and outstanding female student from our school. Our nominee was selected by the music faculty and was based on the following criteria: Must be a Year 12 female student Planning to pursue a career in music post-secondary Shown great improvement over the last 12 months Shows commitment to full VCASS program It is with pleasure that we announce the recipient of the 2017

Frances Quinn Arts Encouragement Award is Eliza O’Connor.

Eliza will perform along with last year’s winner at the Frances

Quinn Encouragement Award concert, Sunday October 1st at

St Peter’s Anglican Church, Were Street, Brighton at 2 p.m

MARY JO KELLY

ACTING HEAD OF MUSIC

VISUAL ARTS Congratulations to Juliet Fraser! Year 11 Visual Arts student Juliet Fraser's film 'Balloon Boy' has been nominated for 'Tadgell's Bluebell Honor Award' which is for Short Film made by adults about/for Youth to be shown at the Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults.The 20th Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults runs from September 18-22, 2017. For more information, please visit: http://cinewest.org/welcome/?page_id=325 Juliet's collage work was also selected for inclusion in Rookie Magazine. To see the collage, please visit: http://www.rookiemag.com/2017/07/july-collages-2/

Congratulations to Isaiah Morris Year 11 Visual Arts student Isaiah Morris's work has been selected for inclusion in YUNG ‘N’ SPRUNG #2. Melbourne based creative studio The W.C.S.S. proudly presents their annual group show “ YUNG ‘N’ SPRUNG #2 ” hosted across both No Vacancy Gallery locations ( QV Melbourne & Federation Square) in the first week of September.

YUNG ‘N’ SPRUNG is an exhibition that gives a plat-form to young emerging creatives to exhibit alongside established artists. The W.C.S.S. have hand picked over 30+ creatives from Melbourne and abroad showcasing their work for a week of good times. The creatives are made up of illustrators, signwriters, visual artists, graphic design-ers, graffiti writers, photographers and videographers. No Vacancy Gallery QV will be home to all original works from the 30+ artists including finished work on various materials including paper, metal, wood and ce-ramics as well as photographs and projections. Open daily 9 to 5. No Vacancy Gallery Fed Square will be transformed into the WURC STORE. You can come down and pur-chase a selection of art, publications, homewares and clothing made by the exhibiting artists and local Aus-tralian brands. Open daily 9 to 5. Details on the opening party as well as mini-events to coincide with the YUNG ‘N’ SPRUNG #2 week below: Monday 4th September: YUNG ‘N’ SPRUNG #2 Opens To Public (QV & Fed Square Space) Wednesday 6th September: Talkshops 007 Thursday 7th September: Opening Night At No Vacan-cy QV For more information and announcements be sure to follow our instagram page - www.instagram.com/the.wcss We hope to see you there! ANDREW LANDRIGAN

HEAD OF VISUAL ARTS

(Right) Juliet

Fraser Collage

work available

via Rookie)

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The very last thing that happened was an interview that

involved Paul, Sol and the other ballet masters and

some principle dancers (who had been on the panel

the whole day). It was at this point you were told if you

were successful in getting into NDT2. It was also a

chance for them to tell you what they liked and what

they think you needed to work on.

The day started at 9am for group A and the day ended up finishing around 9:30pm. I learnt that Paul was prob-ably one of the most lovely people I had ever worked with, even though he looked very intimidating, he was quite the opposite. The whole company seemed to fol-low in his footsteps, they knew how to have fun in the studio, but also where to focus and give all they had when needed, it was truly remarkable. When is the Summer school and what will it in-volve? How did you get to take part? What will hap-pen at the end? Do you know anyone else going? Tyson : The Summer Intensive stars on the 25th of July and finishes on the 5th of August. Every day start-ing with a ballet class, then going into rep work, learn-ing the companies leading choreographers’ works. We then undertake a Paul Lightfoot and Sol León rep class, and finish with an improvisational/composition class. At the end of the intensive we all put on a show and present what we have learnt, as well as the piece created on us by one of the choreographers. I wasn't successful at the audition as they like to have people that have been in the summer intensive go through the rounds, as they have been given the time to know their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their work ethics. At the time of the audition I did not know this was the case. But all was not lost, as after the audition I received an email saying I was given a full scholarship to attend the summer intensive, and if the summer intensive goes well they would like to invite me back in January. As I am a scholarship recipient, I will be going to donor functions to thank and chat with the lovely people who donate to the scholarship pro-gram. I will also help around the studios and give talks to the any of the social media outlets, as they like par-ticipants to do this. They are also throwing a dinner and a party at the end of the two weeks, before we all go our separate ways. Unfortunately I don't know anyone going to the intensive, but I know how welcoming danc-ers are all over the world and I'm sure I'll make life long friends. TYSON POWELL AND SELA KIEK-CALLAN DR SELA KIEK-CALLAN CONTEMPORARY AND VCE DANCE TEACHER

VICTORIAN COLLEGE OF THE ARTS SECONDARY SCHOOL

A LEADING VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SCHOOL AND EDUCATOR AND TRAINER OF SECONDARY AGE GIFTED AND HARDWORKING THE-

ATRE AND VISUAL ARTISTS, DANCERS AND MUSICIANS—THE ACADEMIC SCHOOL FOR THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET SCHOOL, GYMNAS-

TICS VICTORIA,

DANCE Tyson Powell’s audition and Summer School with the Netherlands Dance Theatre. We have recently been enjoying having alumni Tyson Powell participate in some senior classes at VCASS, as he prepares for a summer school and quite probably, subsequent work, with Netherlands Dance Theatre. He answered a few questions for me about his recent audition at NDT and dance students will find his information very inspiring! We wish him every success in his pursuit to join this fabulous international company. What first sparked your interest in NDT? Tyson: I believe it was when I saw The Australian Ballet perform Bella Figura. I absolutely fell in love with the piece. The music, the choreography, the set... everything. That night I went home and did my research and watched more of Jiri Kylian's works. Every single one of his works was so inspiring. I think at the time I was 15, so back then I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do in life. After seeing what this genius could create, I knew I wanted to be a dancer with NDT. So over the years I kept my eye on everything they did, went to all the performances in Australia and even went to a masterclass taught by one of the dancers. Once I had found out That Jiri had left, I was very shocked and worried as to what would happen to the company, but Paul Lightfoot and Sol León are so extraordinary, and the work they produce is so dynamic and so heart wrenching, they are truly amazing. NDT was still my dream company through all of the changes. What happened at the audition you did there? How long was it and what was required? What did you discover about the company? Tyson: The audition was in mid January, in The Hague at their studios. They had a pre selection, which required everyone to send in a video that had a ballet class and a contemporary solo, and from that they picked who they invited to the audition. Once at the audition, we were split into four groups, two groups of girls and two groups of boys. Each group had about thirty dancers. The first part of the audition was a ballet class, fairly simple and basic, so that was a relief. After the ballet class they made a cut, only keeping around 7 - 8 people per group. After all the groups had finished the first round, and the cuts had been made, the class went into boys’ repertoire and girls’ repertoire. They were split in two different studios, one learning a Paul Lightfoot solo and the other learning a Sol León solo. At the end of the class the dancers performed the solo one by one. They then made another round of cuts. After that everyone was given a break before going into the next round. This next round consisted of learning a short pas de deux choreographed by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León. After this was finished they made another cut, at this point there were maybe 15 people left. The last round of dancing was a solo that you had to prepare before arriving at the audition. Once completed they asked you to stay or leave.